DArWiN in TCIDEVELOPING BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT CAPACITY

AROUND THE RAMSAR SITE IN THE TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS

2003/04 Newsletter No. 4 and 5

The Darwin Project - Management Plan ProducedThe Turks & Caicos Islands support some beautiful, fascinatingplants and animals, including species that are internationallyrecognised for their conservation value. Local communities toldthe Turks & Caicos National Trust, the UK Overseas TerritoriesConservation Forum and CABI Bioscience that they valued theirnatural heritage. They wanted their islands to develop, providingwork for local people, but without unnecessary damage towildlife, archaeological sites, or local culture.

If locally-based, small businesses are to be developed, andtraditional crafts encouraged, an infrastructure is needed.Businesses can be built around activities and features used byeco-tourists and other visitors, who come to experience thewildlife and cultural heritage. Such activities include theopening of trails (using the local name of “field-roads”),visitors’ centres, and so on. To ensure local ownership and“environmental democracy” these ideas have been developed ina collaborative way, with management led by the Turks &Caicos National Trust.

The Darwin Project was designed to help, by building localcapacity for sustainable development and biodiversitymanagement. Work focused on the terrestrial habitats andspecies around the Ramsar site centred on Middle Caicos, whereProject Officer Bryan Naqqi Manco was based. The DarwinProject has brought together many local stakeholders, as well asinternational specialists. Although the project has officiallyfinished, these groups are continuing to work together, using thetools that the Darwin Project has provided. The establishment ofthese collaborative networks, and the constructive dialogues thatare now taking place, are themselves important outputs from theDarwin Project. Others are described in this newsletter.

One of the key outputs of the project is a management plan -Plan for Biodiversity Management and SustainableDevelopment around Turks & Caicos Ramsar Site Version 1.0.This draws together local knowledge, results from surveys ofplants, animals and habitats, and information on heritage sites,such as centres of Lucayan activity (c.750-1500AD) andLoyalist plantations (c.1780-1830AD). Particular sites ofconservation value, and of potential interest to visitors, havebeen identified. Recommendations have been developed for thefuture protection of these sites, and for the ways in which eco-tourists might be encouraged to visit them. As examples,amongst the trails identified as being of potential interest tovisitors to Middle and North Caicos are Crossing Place Trail andfield-roads to Haulover Plantation, Garden Pond, ArmstrongPond and White-top. A number of such trails are alreadymaintained by the Turks & Caicos National Trust as passabletracks, but others require some clearance work. A start is beingmade with support from the UK Government’s Foreign &Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Forum, and additionalfunding is being sought. Other sites of particular biodiversityvalue and potential visitor interest include Man O’ War Bushand Ocean Hole (accessible by boat), Flamingo Ponds, theWades Green area and Conch Bar Caves. The latter areparticularly important, for example, as the main roosting site forcave-dwelling bats on the island. Although designated as a

National Park, the conservation requirements of the cavesrequired urgent consideration. The management plan providesthis, with a detailed set of recommendations for the futuremanagement of the site. This is an example of the type of planthat can be developed for specific trails and sites. Genericrecommendations for management, interpretation materials,stakeholder involvement, and so on, are given for other sites, aspart of the overall management plan.

The first full version of the management plan was finalised afterconsultations that will continue as the plan evolves. There wasan initial presentation to the local community, in one of themany community meetings that were a feature of this project,and a full-day seminar with senior staff of GovernmentDepartments and NGOs. The current version of the plan waspresented to TCI Executive Council (Governor and Ministers) inOctober 2002, where it was well received, with a request thatthe work be developed further.

If properly managed, trails like the Haulover Plantation Field-road (above)provide ideal places for visitors to experience the biodiversity and culturalheritage of the Turks & Caicos Islands (photo: O Cheesman/CABI Bioscience)

Ethlyn Gibbs-Williams (Turks & Caicos National Trust) and Dr Mike Pienkowski(UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum) proudly display theManagement Plan produced by the Darwin Project, surrounded by locallyproduced craftwork (photo: TCNT)

The management plan is available on the Forum website, atwww.ukotcf.org. It is a “living document” that will continue todevelop, as new information is collected, and as work isundertaken at particular sites.

Plants

Insects

Some TCI plants are included in Donovan and Helen Correll’sseminal (1982) work, Flora of the Bahama Archipelago.However, earlier botanical surveys here were far fromcomplete, so the Darwin Project work led by Dr Gerald“Stinger” Guala and Jimi Sadle (Fairchild Tropical Gardens,USA) has provided valuable new information. Jimi obtainedfunding from Fairchild for extra fieldwork, visiting TCI withJen Trusty in September 2002. Fred Burton and Bryan Mancohave also collected many specimens for the project, andKathleen McNary Wood (Providenciales) has providedvaluable advice. A visit by Dr Colin Clubbe (Royal BotanicGardens, Kew) also contributed valuably. As expected, theTCI flora is similar to that of the Bahamas. This reflectsgeological and climatic similarities amongst the islands, aswell as their close proximity to one another.

TCI probably supports many more species of insect than of bats,birds, herpetiles and plants combined. Often overlooked, insectsplay a vital role in maintaining the healthy functioning ofecosystems, providing resources and services for other animalsand plants. Insect studies under the Darwin Project have beenled by Dr Oliver Cheesman (CABI Bioscience, UK) and DrRoger Booth (The Natural History Museum, UK). Twoparticular insect groups have been studied in detail, butterfliesand beetles. A book on the butterflies of TCI, based oninformation collected under the Darwin Project, is planned.

Some 47 different butterflies have been recorded in TCI over theyears, although fewer will be present at any one time. Somespecies only visit the islands fleetingly, whilst others areresident here, making up an attractive part of the biodiversity ofthe islands. Of particular local importance is a subspecies ofDrury’s hairstreak Strymon acis leucosticha, which appears tobe endemic to TCI. Another five subspecies of butterfly occuronly in TCI and the neighbouring islands of the southernBahamas (Mayaguana and the Inaguas). These are the TurkIsland leaf butterfly Memphis intermedia intermedia,Chamberlain’s sulphur Eurema chamberlaini mariguanae,Thomas’s blue Cyclargus thomasi clenchi, the duskyswallowtail Heraclides aristodemus bjorndalae, and a form ofWallengrenia skipper.

The beetles of TCI have provided a particular challenge. Unlikethe butterflies, they have never been studied before. Dr RogerBooth has collected hundreds of specimens, and is still at workidentifying the different species encountered – at least 200 so

Work is still on-going to identify plant material collectedunder the Darwin Project, but hundreds of specimens havealready been mounted and processed for herbarium storage.These include a number of new records for TCI, such asMalaxis spicata, Oldenlandia callitrichioides, Ponthievaracemosa and Psychotria nervosa. Plants of particular interestin TCI include the palm, Pseudophoenix sargentii. This wasinitially seen growing in cultivation, but wild populationshave now been located - an important discovery. The orchid,Encyclia caicensis is also of particular significance, as anapparent TCI endemic. At least half a dozen other plants mayalso be unique to the islands. Some of the plant materialcollected by the Darwin Project can be viewed in the “virtualherbarium” established by Fairchild Tropical Gardens(http://www.virtualherbarium.org/lf/tci/tci.html).

As well as individual species of particular interest, the plantcommunities supported by TCI habitats are also important.The patchy Pinus caribea var. bahamensis woodlands, and thegallery forest adjacent to Wade’s Green Plantation (NorthCaicos), as well as the dry scrub-woodland on Middle Caicos,are of particular interest, and worthy of further investigation.The limited freshwater habitats support locally rare botanicalcommunities, the value of which needs to be recognised inconservation planning. Fairchild Tropical Gardens hope tocontinue studying the plants of TCI, building on thefoundations laid by their work under the Darwin Project,leading to a better understanding and appreciation of thebotanical biodiversity of the islands.

far. Some are relatively widespread, common species, but othersare rarities with very restricted distributions. Because of the lackof previous studies, almost all are new records for TCI. Some ofthe beetles collected may even be new species, never discoveredanywhere in the world before. Amongst the largest identifiedspecimens are a longhorn beetle known locally as the “jacko’lantern” Lagocheirus araneiformis and the bright greenground beetle Calosoma spledidum, which is only known from afew islands across the Greater Antilles and Bahamas. Thismighty predator of the insect world is about an inch long, butother species of beetle found in TCI are rather smaller. A feather-winged (ptiliid) beetle found whilst sieving beach debrismeasures only half a millimetre in length.

Dr Oliver Cheesman (CABI Bioscience), Jimi Sadle (Fairchild TropicalGardens) and Bryan Naqqi Manco (left to right) take a break from fieldwork(photo: O Cheesman/CABI Bioscience)

This subspecies of Drury’s hairstreak appears to be unique to TCI – otherendemic insects are also likely to be found on the islands (photo: O Cheesman/CABI Bioscience)

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Bats

Capacity Building, Training & Environmental Education

Caves like those found at Conch Bar (left) are home to a range of specialcreatures. These include the big-eared bat (right) and other bat species(photos: M Pienkowski/UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum)

The Darwin Project has contributed to environmental education and training,involving children (Tony Hutson visits the Conch Bar Elementary School - left),young adults (Jimi Sadle explains plant identification to college students– right) and professionals (photos: O Cheesman/CABI Bioscience)

As well as being fascinating creatures in their own right, batsplay an important role in maintaining the ecological balance ofthe ecosystems in which they occur. Some visit flowers, helpingto pollinate plants, whilst others feed on fruit, dispersing seedsin the process. Others feed on insects (including mosquitoes!),helping to regulate their numbers. The bats found in TCI includeall of these types of species.

The Darwin Project’s bat experts were Dr Tony Hutson (UK)and Tim McCarthy (Carnegie Museum, USA), who workedclosely with Bryan Naqqi Manco. They found five species of baton Middle Caicos, the Cuban fruit-eating bat Brachyphyllanana, the buffy flower bat Erophylla sezekorni, Leach’s long-tongued bat Monophyllus redmani, the big-eared bat Macrotuswaterhousii and the red bat Lasiurus borealis. The first three areunique to parts of the Greater Antilles and the BahamianArchipeligo.

Tony and Tim have also studied the scientific literature, whichrevealed two additional bats recorded in Providenciales in recentyears - the Jamaican fruit-eating bat Artibeus jamaicensis andthe silver-haired bat Lasionycteris noctivagans. Evidence of thefunnel-eared bat Natalus stramineus and the Mexican free-tailedbat Tadarida brasiliensis has also been found in TCI, but fromfossil material only. It appears that the Antillean fruit batBrachyphylla cavernarum has been recorded here in error.

As well as collecting information on local species and habitats,the Darwin Project was committed to providing capacitybuilding, training and environmental education. One of its firstachievements was the recruitment of Bryan Naqqi Manco to theTurks & Caicos National Trust. Bryan has become a popularand valuable member of the Trust team. After two years onMiddle Caicos, co-ordinating visits by international specialistsand conducting fieldwork for the Darwin Project, Bryan is nowbased on North Caicos (working on projects funded from othersources). Amongst his other activities, Bryan has instigated aprogramme of school visits and other environmental awarenessactivities. Under the Darwin Project, there were regularclassroom visits to the elementary school in Conch Bar,educating the youngest generation about some of the animalsand plants with which they share Middle Caicos. Visits to otherschools in TCI have involved older students, and some of thosefrom the British West Indies Collegiate (Providenciales) and theRaymond Gardiner High School (North Caicos) were able toparticipate directly in survey work during visits by bat, bird,herpetile, insect and plant specialists.

Whilst the specialists were working on Middle Caicos, there wasthe opportunity for others to participate, learning some of theskills of survey work and species identification. The biodiversityof the study site will need to be monitored into the future, ifknowledge of local species and habitats is to be up-dated, andthe effects of management methods assessed. Amongst thosewho were able to take advantage of this “hands on” experiencewere members of Turks & Caicos National Trust staff, JasmineParker and Amber Thomas (from the TCI Government’sDepartment of Environmental & Coastal Resources), and NicolaWarwick and Richard Wildman (teachers from Providencialesand North Caicos). Mike Pienkowski held a seminar with seniorbiology students at the TCI Community College on the study,

Four of the five species of bat found live in caves, and theConch Bar Caves in particular provide an important refuge forthem. For this reason, it was especially important for the DarwinProject to develop a management plan for the caves. This isincluded in the overall management plan, and provides detailedrecommendations for cave visitors, helping to ensure that theresident bat populations have a secure future.

Apart from the species mentioned above, other species of batmay occur in TCI. These include further species of Natalus, thebig brown bat Eptesicus fuscus, the velvety free-tailed batMolossus molossus, and even the fishing bat Noctilio leporinus.

the management plan and future developments. Equipment andreference books bought by the Darwin Project for the NationalTrust will also assist future survey and monitoring work.

The participation of the Middle Caicos community in themanagement planning process has itself involved environmentaleducation, but this has been very much a two-way process!Project personnel have learnt much about the natural resourcesof the islands from local people, as well as raising awareness ofspecific conservation issues. The local Project Committee hasprovided a particular forum for developing ideas and actions,and will now lead on work to implement the management plan.However, participation in community meetings, planningdiscussions and project presentations has helped many morelocal people (on Middle Caicos in particular) to participateactively, and with confidence, in management planning andaction, and in environmental democracy in general.

Darwin Project: Related Activities - Middle Caicos Eco-centre

Books, Articles & Presentations

Acknowledgements

The old school buildings in Bambarra are to be converted into an eco-centrefor TCI residents and visitors (photo: O Cheesman/CABI Bioscience)

Throughregularmeetings (likethis one inConch Bar),localcommunitieshavecontributed tothe running ofthe DarwinProject and thedevelopment ofthemanagementplan.

In the last newsletter, we reported that the TCI Government hadgranted the Turks & Caicos National Trust a long-term lease onthe former Vera Hamilton Primary School in Bambarra, MiddleCaicos. The Trust plans to convert the old school building andsurrounding land into a biodiversity study centre for local peopleand visitors. Since that time, the Trust has secured (mainly fromlocal sources) much of the substantial funding needed torenovate the building. They have also developed designs for theCentre and its facilities, and building work is expected tocommence shortly. Meanwhile, the Trust continues to seekfunding to complete the renovation and fit out the Centre.

All of the specialists involved in biodiversity survey workunder the Darwin Project hope to produce publications in thescientific literature, making the findings of the projectavailable to the international scientific community. However,it is just as important to share the results with local people andvisitors to the islands. As the plants and animals of TCIbecome more widely appreciated, the more likely it is that thewildlife can be effectively monitored, and that people willvisit TCI to see it. The Turks & Caicos National Trust hasbeen working hard to communicate the findings of the DarwinProject, in publications and through environmental educationactivities. Articles have appeared in the Times of the Islandsmagazine, and more are planned. For a wider audience, theForum has included news of the work in its variouspublications, and presentations have been made atinternational meetings. For example, Ethlyn Gibbs-Williamspresented the work of the project at the Forum’s Bermudaconference in March 2003 (the Proceedings of which areavailable on the Forum website - www.ukotcf.org).

A number of new books are now available, or are beingprepared, which describe some of the biodiversity of TCI. TheTurks & Caicos National Trust recently published The Birdsof the Turks & Caicos Islands by Richard Ground. As well asbeing a talented wildlife photographer and natural historian,Richard was until recently TCI Chief Justice. He has been an

The project partners would particularly like to acknowledge thefinancial support of the Darwin Initiative. However, the successof the Darwin Project in TCI has benefited from generoussupport from many institutions and individuals. We would alsolike to thank the Governors and their staff, the Honourable ChiefMinister, the Honourable Ministers for Natural Resources, thePermanent Secretary for Natural Resources, the Department ofEnvironmental and Coastal Resources, the Department ofEconomic Planning & Statistics, the District Commissioners,and the communities of Middle and North Caicos.

Activities that have complemented and strengthened the DarwinProject have received funding from the UK Government’sForeign & Commonwealth Office, and some flights have beensubsidised under British Airways Assisting Conservationprogramme. ESRI assisted in respect of GIS software. The TCIGovernment has provided project vehicles, and the NorbellisFoundation has assisted with accommodation.

Much of the survey and research work was undertaken by theForum network and other international specialists in unpaidtime, and many people across the islands have also given uptheir time, to participate in fieldwork, planning meetings andworkshops. Many thanks are due to all of them.

active supporter of the DarwinProject, which was happy toprovide some new birdinformation for his book.Richard is now working on twomore books, one on the shells ofTCI, and one on the butterfliesof the islands. He is workingwith Dr Oliver Cheesman, tocombine the information onbutterflies collected by theDarwin Project with Richard’sexcellent photographs and

observations. MacMillan Caribbean has recently publishedFlowers of the Bahamas and the Turks & Caicos by KathleenMcNary Wood, an easy-to-use guide to some of theindigenous and introduced plants found in the islands.

The project partners are also developing a set of informationcards, specifically for visitors to some of the key sitesidentified by the project. These describe some of the animalsand plants that visitors might see as they walk the trails orlook for birds across the ponds. More information will beavailable at the Middle Caicos Eco-Centre, helping localpeople and visitors to understand and appreciate the wildlifearound them.

News from The Darwin Initiative

The UK Government’s Darwin Initiative celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2002 – ten years of innovativeconservation projects around the world, guided by the principals of the Convention on Biological Diversity.The success of the Initiative was acknowledged by the British Prime Minister, who announced increasedlevels of funding. The Initiative has adopted a new logo, and introduced some new procedures, particularlyaimed at assisting project development and to help successful projects increase their long-term impact.There were 34 new Darwin projects announced in March 2003, including work to support sustainablefarming of coral reefs in Fiji and the Soloman Islands, conservation of rhinos and flamingos in Kenya,protection of marine turtles in Anegada (British Virgin Islands) and the further development ofconservation planning in Tristan da Cunha.

Further information can be found at the Darwin Initiative website: http://www.darwin.gov.uk/

The Turks & Caicos National Trust is the lead statutory non-governmental organisation within the Turks &Caicos Islands that is mandated to carry out conservation management. Over the past four years, the Trusthas contributed immensely to public awareness, raising the level of conscientiousness amongst residents andvisitors about the importance of the native flora and fauna. This accomplishment was largely brought onthrough the initial activities of the Darwin Project and, more recently, the first steps in the implementation ofthe Plan for Biodiversity Management and Sustainable Development around Turks & Caicos Ramsar Site.

The National Trust’s on-going programmes are indicative of the commitment and success of the institution.Capacity building and institutional strengthening are flagged as areas of focus for the immediate future.

Details of the National Trust’s various programmes and projects, forthcoming events, as well as informationon membership, merchandise and publications, can be found on the Turks & Caicos National Trust website:http://www.tcimall.tc/nationaltrust/

The Forum has continued to work closely with its member organisations in the UKOTs andUK, UKOT Governments and UK Government on Environment Charters. This concept,which the Forum helped develop, should provide a framework for each UKOT to take forwardenvironmental work in an integrated and effective manner. As a pilot for UKOTs generally, theForum is facilitating, at the invitation of TCI Government, the development of a strategyfor action to implement the Charter. The Forum has also advised UK GovernmentDepartments, FCO, DFID and Defra, on various issues including better linking fundingsupport to the Charters, and implementing international commitments. The Forum continuesits work in information and capacity building. Important elements here are Forum News, itswebsite with database, its regional Working Groups, and the successful conference in Bermuda in March 2003. It has also continued towork in support of individual UKOTs, including working with TCNT to start the implementation of the management plan.

Further information can be found at the UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum website: http://www.ukotcf.org/

CAB International (CABI) continues its work to assist sustainabledevelopment and biodiversity management around the world, through its twoDivisions, CABI Bioscience and CABI Publishing. The organisation hasrecently announced that it will be holding its 15th Review Conference in2004 in China. Recent work by CABI Bioscience in the Caribbean includes a16-week regional training course on Integrated Pest Management in the cultivation of vegetables, work against the tropical bont tick,and a project assessing taxonomic capacity building needs in the Bahamas. CABI’s Caribbean and Latin America Regional Centre(CLARC) has for many years been dedicated to the fight against invasive species in the region. Working with colleagues from theUK, including the Darwin Project’s Dr Oliver Cheesman, CLARC have recently completed a review of invasive species threats in theCaribbean, on behalf of The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

Further information can be found at the CABI Bioscience website: http://www.cabi-bioscience.org/

News from Turks & Caicos National Trust

News from UK Overseas Territories Conversation Forum

News from CABI Bioscience